Proclamation Against Egypt

29 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^(A)set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and ^(B)against all Egypt. ³ Speak, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

⁸ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will bring ^(L)a sword upon you and cut off from you man and beast. ⁹ And the land of Egypt shall become ^(M)desolate and waste; then they will know that I am the Lord, because he said, ‘The River is mine, and I have made it.’ ¹⁰ Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your rivers, ^(N)and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, ^(O)from ^[e]Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. ^11 (P)Neither foot of man shall pass through it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years. ^12 (Q)I will make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I will ^(R)scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries.”

¹³ ‘Yet, thus says the Lord God: “At the ^(S)end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. ¹⁴ I will bring back the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of their origin, and there they shall be a ^(T)lowly kingdom. ¹⁵ It shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. ¹⁶ No longer shall it be ^(U)the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord God.” ’ ”

Babylonia Will Plunder Egypt

¹⁷ And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹⁸ “Son of man, ^(V)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against Tyre; every head was made ^(W)bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it. ¹⁹ Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Surely I will give the land of Egypt to ^(X)Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. ²⁰ I have given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they ^(Y)worked for Me,’ says the Lord God.

²¹ ‘In that day ^(Z)I will cause the ^[f]horn of the house of Israel to spring forth, and I will ^(AA)open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’ ”